Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1078260
7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2019 JAMES DEBONO THE environmental watchdog said that the development of a hotel on Rabat's Saqqajja hill will result in the loss of an ex- tensive agricultural area along Triq l-Infetti, by being hard- surfaced for an entrance for cars to the hotel. This would entail uprooting trees for the hotel area, which, as developers are proposing, will be transplanted to the rear of the site by the swimming pool. This emerges from a screen- ing report issued by the En- vironment and Resources Authority for the proposed five-star, 110-room hotel on five terraced floors that will re- place the former, three-storey Tattingers disco. Although exempt from a full environmental impact assess- ment, the ERA said the pro- ject's negative impacts should be addressed by a "substantial downsizing of the proposal", and by confining the develop- ment and ancillary structures like pools to the curtilage of the existing footprint. 75% of the land earmarked for the project encroaches on land outside the boundary of the Saqqajja area and the increase in built footprint and scattering of outbound buildings would result in an urban sprawl in this area. The ERA also warned that fa- cilities such as a large, detached kitchen and breakfast area, decks and swimming pool and a garden would require excava- tions and soil levelling in an ar- ea that is already scheduled for its archaeological importance. Meanwhile the larger demand for car parking a hotel brings with it, would simply intensify the pressures in the area. "The existing parking facili- ties already barely cope with current peak demand and off-street parking is bound to increase further beyond the area's carrying capacity as a result of the proposed develop- ment," the ERA said. This scenario becomes all the more significant when consid- ering the cumulative picture, in view of the existence of anoth- er hotel at Triq ir-Repubblika, and a proposed hotel 100 me- tres from the site in question at Triq is-Saqqajja. Whilst acknowledging that the buildings occupied by the former club, as well as apart- ments, showroom and garages at the edge of the site, are not aesthetically appealing, the ERA has described the pro- posed hotel as "obtrusive on the skyline considering its promi- nent location at the main entry point to Mdina and at the edge of the boundary of the Saqqajja settlement." It said the hotel would not be not a suitable replacement building as it will not harmo- nise with the character of the existing historic and rural set- ting. "In view of its scale, mass- ing and encroachment onto nearby undeveloped land with- in a landmark site the visual intrusion into the surrounding landscape will actually be in- tensified." ERA is also concerned with the precedent that would be set for more future development, opening up for "future pres- sures to accommodate similar extensions to the nearby plots." And there is also a possible impact of excavation works on the stability of the Mdina hill side. "This particular flank of the hillside is known to be prone to geotechnical instabil- ity, and this had in fact resulted in structural subsidence of a segment of the Mdina fortifica- tion walls and collapse of part of the old buildings at the rear of the magisterial palace," the ERA said. A Project Development State- ment submitted by the devel- opers has described the devel- opment as a contribution to the cultural heritage of the area "through the promotion of res- toration works and the use of traditional features, as well as the use of the hotel grounds by the public to experience the restored areas and the walking experience to Mdina". They claim that a key benefit is the "opportunity of a direct connection from the pub- lic parking right into Mdina, through the landscaped hotel grounds"; and that it will re- quire considerably lower park- ing provision in comparison to the former nightclub, which could generate a requirement of circa 1,000 parking spaces in one night. Downsize Saqqajja hotel, ERA says The hotel at Saqqajja hill will not harmonise with the character of the existing historic and rural setting – ERA